Wall board



March 26, 19249. s. GREENEBAUM 1,706,661

WALL BOARD Fned Jan. 21, 1928 .il cz--l e Mw 1 l l, f qyw aum. O

Patented Mar. 26, 1929.

YUNITED STATES rATENroFFleE-.f

SAMUEL GREENEBAUM, OFgKANKS'AS CITY, MISSOURI.

WALL BOARD.

Application led January 21, 1928. Serial No. 248,410.

The invention relates to a new and4 improved wall board constituting a tile or analogous simulation, and it aims to provide an inexpensive, yet an effective tile representation which maybe manufactured in rigid sheet form, may be readily` sawed to size yand shape, may be nailed in place against studs or thelike and does not require a continuous wall or surface to which to secure it, requires no cement to hold it in place, and embodies grooves bounding the tile simulations, said grooves being multifunctional, in that they constitute grooves in which to drive the attaching nails and grooves to later receive and retain a1 plastic pointing material, which material not only assists in giving the appearance of separate tiles and mortar between, but hides all nail heads and joints, the latter being always made between simulations. f

The invention may represent glazed or unglazed tile, ceramic tile, glazed or unglazed brick, mosaic, stone, marble, terra cotta, etc., and hence, even though such eX- pressions as tiles, tile simulating areas or analogous expressions are herein used, it is to be understood that I am not restricted to the simulation of actual tiles.

With the foregoing in View, the invention resides in the novel subject matter herein after described and claimed, the descriptiony being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation showing a portion of the-wall board nailed to studs.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on` line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation, the grooves between the tile simulations having been filled with pointing material.

Fig. 5 is a detail horizontal sectional view or line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawing above briefly described, the numeral 6 denotes an inherently rigid sheet which may be of any desired thickness, for instance from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch, according to its composition and consequent rigidity. Any desired material may be used for this sheet 6, but its structure is preferably homogeneous throughout its thickness and it is suiciently stiff to permit nailing directly to studs or the like, without requiring that a continuous flat surface be .provided to which to attach said sheet.r

Moreover, the sheet 6 is sufficiently rigid or stiff to prevent excessive weakening thereof by grooving its front face and. hence it is not necessary that it be provided with any backing of fabric or the like. Y

The front side of sheet 6 is formed with a plurality of grooves 7 arranged in any desired manner to bound tile simulating areas 8 of desired sizeand shape. After the formation of these grooves, the front side of the sneet is enameled, lacquered or finished in any other coating, as indicated at 9, to give the desired. tile simulation. y

In forming a tile representing wall, sheets such as 6 may be cut to desired sizes and shapes with a. saw or knife, always performing the cutting operation in a groove 7, if one sheet is to abut another sheet`at the cut. The sheets are secured to studs S or to other desired backing means, by small finishing nails l() which aredriven intothe grooves 7, thevheads of the nails being preferably driven against or partly into' the groove bottoms by the use of a fine nail set. After the sheets have been secured in place, the numerous grooves are filled with plastic pointing material 1l, giving an excellent representation of individual'tiles separately app-lied and having mortar joints between them. Not only is this appearance given by application of the pointing material 11, but

this material covers allnail heads and all seams or joints between sheets so that it is impossible to detect where any joint was made.

y It will. be seen from the foregoing that a new and improved tile simulating wall board has been provided which eliminates any fabric or other backing material on the sheets, requires no continuous surface suchk as a solid wall against which the sheets are to be secured, requires no cementing 'durs ing the securing operation, may be manufactured easily and economically, land produces excellent results, all joints and nail heads being hidden from view by the plastic material l1 received in the grooves 7. These grooves are of multifunctional nature, in that they not only receive the attaching nails but later receive the pointing material 11 which obscures the nail heads and gives the desired appearance to the finished wall, not

onlyforming distinct lines of demarkation between the tile simulating areas ofy the Cil `possible to distinguish the dilference.

sheet, but breaking the mechanical monotony which would exist without the application of this pointing material.

is above stated, any desired material, appropriate for the purpose intended, may be used in the manufacture of the sheet 6. In aractical experiments which I have made, i have found that waste wood material dis integrated under the action of steam and later hydraulically compressed into sheet form, will not only produce satisfactory results, but is rather inexpensive, and lends itsclfadinirahly to the operation or operations necessary in the formation of the grooves 7. ln this connection, attention is invited to the facts that t-hese grooves may be made by groove cutters Where the tile design is simple, or in either simple or intricate designs or patterns, the gro'oving may be accomplished by stamping or indenting the sheet under pressure before hardening of the material of which it is formed takes place, and in some instances, the so-called stencilling process may be used in the format-ion of the grooves.

By the use of the invention, a facing of individual tiles and mortar may be so effeetively simulated that it is practically im- In this connection, it may be explained that the grooves 7 are considerably deeper than the distance from the tile faces to the mortar of a conventional tile and motor facing. Hence, a substantial body of plastic pointing material ll may be placed and retained in these grooves and the distance between this material and the faces of the tile simulations 8 may be made to agree exact-ly with tlic distance between the, mortar and the tile faces of the conventional tile and mortar facing simulated. lt is due to this and to skillful finishing of the tile simulating faces, that such excellent representatioi'is of conventional tile and mortar facings can be produced.

Obviously, any desired finishing material such as cap molding, base finishes, trim, etc., may he used with the wall board, constructed similarly to the article herein described.

I claim Tile board for simulating a conventional facing of individual tiles laid with mortar joints, said board comprising an inherently rigid sheet penetrable to nails, the front side of said sheet being formed with nail and plastic-receiving grooves and tile-simulating areas bounded by said grooves, said grooves being of a depth considerably greater than the distance from the mortar joints to the t-ile faces of the conventional facing to be simulated, whereby said grooves may res ceive a substantial body of plastic pointing material to simulate the mortar and obscure the nail heads, said areas ofsaid sheet each having a complete ornamental finish.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto af- "Xcd my signature.

SAMUEL GREEN EBAUM. 

